take a look at the radar. tom says they could turn powerful this morning. the power companies taking a close look at the forecast. dominion power company put those on stand by from as far away as norfolk. will they be needed today? here's team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. tom? unfortunately, we do have storms producing gusts of up to 60 miles an hour this afternoon. right now the weather is settled. just a few sprinkles around the metro area. four hours ago we had passing showers moving north of the metro area and leaving the pavement wet. right now we just have low

clouds producing sprinkles around washington, much of northern virginia and western maryland. they are going to stay wet here throughout the entire day. all of this coming from a front that's producing all this rain that's moving in and advancing, getting a little bit heavier now just southeast of charleston, west virginia. that's now moving into the far southeastern portions of west virginia. that's going to eventually move into the southern shenandoah valley in about another two hours or so, and then closer to the metro area, that looks like that's going to happen around 3:00 this afternoon. ahead of that, we've got mild and muggy air. temperatures around 70 degrees much of the region. hour by hour by 7:00 a.m., still cloudy. rain west of the metro area. a few scattered sprinkles around the immediate metro area. we'll be hovering near 70. some of those showers beginning to move in. then quickly after that, by 3:00 or so, we could have some of

those storms producing those damaging winds that might bring down power lines and tree limbs. unfortunately, that risk extends into this evening. your first 4 traffic now with danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. right now i'm tracking breaking news on the outer loop of the beltway. as you make your way toward connecticut avenue, a crash there was blocking all of your lanes. right now two of our right lanes get by. let me show you what georgia avenue looks like. solid delays further as you make your way on the outer loop of the beltway before you get to georgia. here's what colesville road looks like. it's not bad. but i know that's due to change because you are heavy yoin the brakes as you get to georgia avenue and slow as you make your way towards connecticut avenue. your left lanes are going to get you by on that crash. i-95 as you make your way northbound at 17. you're even slower right now, just about 16 miles per hour as you head northbound to make your way past this accident.

again, left lanes in this area too will get you by that crash. back in ten with another update. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> danella, thank you. breaking news out of afghanistan. more attacks as a result of that anti-islam internet movie. >> this proves the deadliest attack onoreigners in more than a year in afghanistan. at least 11 dead, several others injured. this is what's left after a suicide bomber, believed to be a 22-year-old woman, slammed her car into a mini bus packed with foreign nationals. the blast was so loud, people reported not being able to hear for hours after the explosion. a radical islamic group claims responsibility, saying they do this in retaliation to an anti-islam film made in the u.s. the video has enraged those in many countries. afghans stoned police and burned their cars.

rioting last week in libya left a u.s. ambassador and three others dead. this was the first suicide car bombing carried out by a female in afghanistan. reporting from the news 4 live desk, angie goff, news 4. and the u.s. has changed its strategy in response to the amount of insider attacks in afghanistan. joint operations between the u.s. and afghan militaries are now suspended until further notice. this comes after afghan troops are suspected of killing four americans. one senior officials tells the newspaper, quote, we can't trust these individuals. helping investigate vandalism at a mosque in virginia. on friday morning, worshippers found the building spray painted with vulgar images and racial slurs. the council on american-islamic relations is calling it a possible hate crime. police say it wasn't clear if the vandalism was directed at

muslims. they also found graffiti at a high school and christian school in the area. police inge's county arrested michael jerome stewart in landover last night. they say he shot and killed 25-year-old brittany mckinley early sunday morning. investigators say stewart went to mckinley's home on heath street and shot the two women after he got in an argument with mckinley earlier that morning. the second victim was able to get away and call police. she is expected to be okay. investigators are trying to determine what led to a triple shooting that left one woman dead and one woman injured. it happened in spotsylvania county. 43-year-old david anderson shot and killed his 75-year-old mother. he also shot his sister laura reeves several times before turning the gun on himself. she is in the hospital in stable condition. neighbors say the family lived on the block for a year or two.

one neighbor says they wanted their children to stay away from the man they called the crazy guy. today some metro riders on the blue and yellow line could see some green. metro will hand out free $5 fare cards as part of their hello yellow campaign. it's an effort to convince blue line riders that a transfer to the yellow line can cut travel times during the rush hour. under the new rush plus schedule, the blue line runs fewer peak hour trains which could lead to crowded trains. they'll hand out the fare cards at the pentagon and l'enfant stations. we are still waiting this morning for a good look at the national zoo's brand new edition. here's a live look at the panda cam. proud mom mei xiang with her cub somewhere in there. it's likely we won't get a great view of the newborn until mei xiang leaves the den to go find food in a couple of weeks. despite that and the panda house being closed. visitors are flocking to the zoo. gift shop sales are many booing.

last time mei xiang gave birth, the visitor saw more than 1 million more visitors. and the spending went up to nearly $250,000. the redskins feeling black and blue this morning. turns out on sunday the team actually suffered three losses. >> okay. we're surrounded by emergency vehicles. there's a reason for this. somebody has got to give us the reason, or we're going to evacuate the aircraft. >> tense moments that caused a heated exchange between a pilot and air traffic controller.

good morning. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. we have a weather alert for

later today. right now we just have some rain beginning to move into the shenandoah valley. heavier downpours west of there and all the way down to the gulf coast. the leading edge of rain moving into the washington metro area, it's still way down around rappahannock county and just now coming into culpeper. right now western suburbs getting a few light sprinkles around the metro area. wet pavement will be with us throughout the morning. by 8:00 a.m., mid-70s. by noontime, high 70s with the showers beginning to move in. then strong storms with damaging winds. unfortunately, some of them could bring down tree limbs and power lines. winds gusting over 60 miles an hour. generally, that does look to be between 3:00 p.m. to as late as 8:00 p.m. highs near 80. then the storms might continue and move east of the metro area after that. and around the bay by 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00 and east of there as the evening progresses. i'll be back with a look at the

seven day outlook and another look at storm team 4 radar in ten minutes. >> good morning. still tracking breaking news on the road. if you're traveling the beltway, outer loop at connecticut avenue, crash blocks two of your left lanes. you are able to get by on the right. two lanes to the right will get you by. earlier, it was blocking all of your lanes. here's what you're looking at, colesville road just siting in this area. and the delays on the outer loop of the beltway, it's going to grow. as more commuters get on the road, even slower. not bad on new hampshire avenue, but as soon as you get to colesville, you're heavy on the brakes in this area. keeping an eye on i-95, checking travel speeds for you. you are a bit slowlorton. will take you 18 minutes to get from prince william parkway to the beltway. the u.s. olympian taken to the hospital and then to jail.

a prison break at the mexican-u.s. border. nearly 200 prisoners broke free. this is close, about five miles from eagles pass, texas, and 2

1/2 miles away from san antonio. the prisoners escaped by burrowing through a seven-foot tunnel one by one. it started where the inmates socialized and led to an outdoor pat patio. right now prison guards are being investigated. mexican officials asked the u.s. for help with this massive man hunt. most of those locked up were in for federal crimes like drug trafficking. reporting from the news 4 live desk, angie goff, news 4. 14 before the hour. today a french court to decide whether to stop more topless photos of the duchess of cambridge from being published. this is new video of prince william and kate leaving the solomon islands. they continue their asia pacific tour. members of the royal family are asking a french court for an injunction from preventing a gossip magazine from printing a deeply intimate moment. the photos were taken with a telephoto lens when the duke and duchess were sun bathing at a

french chateau. olympic gold medalist shaun white is out of jail this morning after being arrested in nashville. he is facing charges of vandalism and public intoxication. he is accused of pulling a fire alarm at a hotel where he was a guest early sunday, forcing an evacuation. the 26-year-old is also charged with breaking a hotel phone. white was injured running from the scene and had to be hospitalized. a court date is set for next month. those controversial body scanners used by tsa will be banned in europe starting in october. european officials say the risk of radiation from the body scanners is close to zero, but they admit they had to ban the devices anyway. that's because legislation in brussels does not allow security trials to exceed a three-year period. the tsa insists the scanners produce little to no threat and the technology emits thousands of times less energy than a cell phone transition. 6:17 now. a security scare startled passengers and crew at jfk

airport yesterday after an anonymous caller claimed that a hijacker and explosives were on board one of the flights. >> we're surrounded by emergency vehicles. there's a reason for this. someone's got to give us the reason, or we're going to evacuate the aircraft. you've got 60 seconds. >> we have the information. can you possibly call? >> negative. i would demand the information right now over a frequency. >> the planes were cleared without incident an hour later. no explosives were found. classes at lsu will go on as planned after a bomb threat forced a campus-wide evacuation. the threat came in yesterday morning but did not specify where the threat was. officials couldn't find any explosives. so the students returned to many campus late last night. this is the fourth campus to receive bomb threats in the past week. in chicago delegates are expected to vote this afternoon on whether to end the seven day strike that's kept 350,000 students out of class.

they're scheduled to discuss the proposed contract that produces a 7% cost of living raise over three years. meanwhile, chicago mayor rahm emanuel has taken the union to court calling it illegal. the secretary of public schools is asking the court for an injunction to force teachers back to work. a hearing is set for tomorrow. a new challenge for the redskins. the team will be without two defensive starters for the season. pro bowl linebacker brian orakpo tore his left pectoral muscle, and adam carriker is out with a torn quad tendon in his right knee. carriker will need sur and five months of rehab. orakpo suffered his injury while making his first sack of the season. he will be hard to replace. >> he's a guy that can do it all. he can cover. he can rush. he can play the run. very smart, team player. all the things you look for in a pro bowl player. obviously, we'll miss him.

>> defensive leader london fletcher says he hopes one of the young players will take this opportunity to step up and help the team. the redskins face the bengals at home on sunday. today a new look at how the nation's obesity crisis is impacting the country. a report will be released today by the trust for america's health. that annual report takes a look at the obesity rate in the united states. a reduction of body mass by just 5% could help thousands of people avoid obesity related diseases. you've probably heard studies that talk about the health risk of sitting at your desk all day. now one company is encouraging its employees to get up and move with recess at work. the health program includes hackie sack, four square, even tether ball for employees. maybe some hula hooping there. employees get daily recess complete with team building once a week.

employees aren't the only ones noticing a difference in morale. >> it helps people's happiness and health and quality of life. we wanted to design a program that encouraged employees to get out and play. >> the program seems to be working. one employee has lost 60 pounds since the start. that's cool. we get a little competitive out here if we're playing. >> our little events that we have here. 6:21 is our time this morning. we are under a weather alert for the day. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein here with the details. >> it's very important that you pay close attention to the weather, especially this afternoon. right now we don't have any weather threats. we have areas in yellow through pennsylvania and western maryland. much of east and west virginia. this strechtches all the way do to the gulf coast. the close up view of storm team 4 radar showing light showers, just a few sprinkles in loudoun county, northern montgomery county, into frederick county. farther south and west, there

are scattered showers around the blue ridge and shenandoah valley, just light showers there. right around the metro area now, just a few scattered sprinkles. some of the pavement is wet. be aware of that. it's certainly going to be a recipe for fender benders this morning. this afternoon thunderstorms likely and unfortunately a chance of damaging winds that may cause power outages. drop from near 80 midafternoon to the 70s. before then, the winds starting to gust too. this evening, expect more storms. they'll move east of washington and be around the bay by 9:00 or 10:00. those winds could be very strong in some storms. rest of the week into friday looking delightful. over the weekend, might get thunder showers saturday afternoon. otherwise, looking terrific. good weather for the skins game on sunday. i'm back in ten minutes. danella has a look at traffic. good morning. >> good morning. still following breaking news on the beltway. taking the outer loop of the beltway. there is good news at connecticut avenue. that earlier crash blocking the

left side of the roadway. your travel lanes are open. unfortunately, still seeing delays. as you make your way towards colesville road, heavy in this area. as you head from i-95 to i-270, that drive will take you 28 minutes right now. still keeping an eye on things in virginia, on i-66, no accidents. as you pass fairfax county parkway, starting to hit the brakes. aaron and eun, back over to you. ahead, why parents are accused of lying to get their kids into one maryland school. this message. experiences classrooms. sizes don't matter... by 20%. teaching to some test... he personally cannot relate to. education, children.

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here's one debate that's a must watch. bill o'reilly versus jon stewart. the fox news host and comedy central satirist agreed to the rumble in the air conditioned auditorium. it's october 6th at george washington university. ticket proceeds will go to charity. a newly married iowa couple

received a wedding gift much cooler than new towels or a china set, a gift from the president. the president planned a last-minerute rally at the livi history farms the same time as the couple's wedding. the couple received this thoughtful gift from the president. congratulations on the wedding. michelle and i wish you a great life together. 6:27. breaking news involving the private photos of princess katherine.

a weather alert this morning.

breaking news.

the ruling just in. a french court decides whether a magazine can show more pictures of a topless french kate. >> elegantly stated, let me put it that way. damage control this morning. republican presidential candidate mitt romney is trying to explain a comment he made while someone secretly recorded him. >> good morning, everyone. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. strong storms possible today. you can see them on the radar moving this way. the bad stuff still far out. you may still find slick roads out there. tom kierein on the storm 4 weather deck. tom, any rain drops falling here? >> we've had a few sprinkles in the last couple of hours in the metro area after overnight showers have left the pavement wet throughout much of the area. now out here on the storm team 4 weather deck, we're getting gusts of wind here up to 20, 25 miles an hour. all of this coming in advance of this strong front that's heading our way. those areas in yellow, that's why it's raining pretty hard

around the mountains. locally, just sprinkles around the metro area. another area of light rain. now just north of the metro area into loudoun county, panhandle of west virginia. here's some rain beginning to move into the shenandoah valley. it's right near lorraine about to come into culpeper and warrenton in the next half hour. that area of steadier rain is going to be arriving in the metro area. that's going to be arriving at noontime. later in the afternoon around 4:00 p.m., chance of damaging winds in this whole yellow zone. that includes areas of new england all the way down to th carolinas. we're right in the middle of that. that yellow zone, we could have storms producing winds up to 60 miles an hour. that may cause some tree limbs and power lines to come down. i'll be back with another look at storm team 4 radar in ten minutes. a look at your tuesday morning traffic with danella. good morning. >> many ggood morning, tom. it's going to be a slow trip

today. if you're taking the outer loop of the beltway, you're jammed still because the earlier accident at connecticut still going. that trip will take you over 30 minutes from i-95. let's head over to 50 at maryland. very slow at landover road, sluggish all the way as you make your way to new york avenue. i'm checking for accidents on 50, not seeing any, but you just are under speed. coming back in ten minutes with a look at i-95 as well as 3 395 and we'll talk about the delays there. breaking news out of france. a ruling just in about those private photos of princess katherine. angie goff is at the news 4 live desk with the ruling. >> many good morning. the court ruled on a number of things. basically, the ruling is a victory for the royal family. the court says the magazine cannot show any more topless photos of princess kate and also must hand over the photos to the royal family within 24 hours. while this was going on. the prosecutor's office in the paris suburb of natire has

announced it's opening a separate criminal charge against the magazine that published the topless photos and the photographer who took them. once again, a victory for the royal family in court this morning. the princess kate topless photo case seems a step closer to being closed. reporting from the news 4 live desk, angie goff, news 4. a father may lose his job for helping his son ask his girlfriend to his high school homecoming. u.s. customs and border patrol investigating claims that one of its helicopters like this one was used to help a teenager invite his girlfriend to the dance. the father is a pilot with homeland security, and his son goes to patriot high school in prince william county. they came up with a plan to drop a teddy bear and a card on school grounds last week. that pilot has been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation. as to the homecoming date, no word on whether the young lady said yes or no. >> a high school in prince

william county is overcrowded. wah the high school in waldorf, maryland, is 300 students over capacity. officials believe the students live outside the school zones, and they're sending accounts to where they live. parents have until tomorrow to withdraw their children from north point high school with no questions asked. they took the lead in a case that terrorized this region will come together for three weeks in october of 2002. random shootings in the d.c., maryland, and virginia areas killed ten people. john allen muhammad and lee boyd malvo were later convicted of the sniper attacks as part of the ten-year anniversary. former montgomery county police chief charles moose along with the prince william county police chief charles dean and retired maryland state police lieutenant david reichenbag will discuss the case today at the national law enforcement museum. two thieves held up an auto parts store on sunday. it happened in takoma park when

a man and woman zip tied two employees and an 81-year-old customer and ended up fleeing the scene with cash. the surveillance footage shows the duo taking their masks on and off during the course of the robbery. anyone who recognizes either suspect should call the police. a figure skating coach accused of sexual abuse is allowed to return to maryland. this is after he entered a not guilty play on charges he fondled a 16-year-old student while the two attended a competition in lake placid, new york, last year. the alleged victim is from prince george's county. the family has filed a multimillion dollar civil suit against him. a man jailed in cuba on spying charges is awaiting response after cuba offered a possible deal for his release. cuban officials say they will be willing to swap alan gross for the release of five cubans who are held in the u.s. on spying charges and considered heroes in cuba. gross has been jailed in cuba since 2009. the u.s. previously called such a deal impossible. today investigators will try

to figure out what caused a fire at a building longing to argentina on the district's dupont circle neighborhood. the fire broke out last night in the 1800 block of corcoran street northwest. firefighters say the fire started on the third floor of the building. two people, including a firefighter, were treated for minor injuries. 6:37 right now. ahead, the secretly taped mitt romney video. clint eastwood on his now famous empty chair speech.

a free ride where metro is giving riders preloade

our period of tranquillity. we've got heavy downpours in southeast virginia. we're getting into southeastern washington. farther north and west. some light rain in frederick county. panhandle of west virginia. there's also light rain coming into culpeper and fauquier counties. this is because we're advancing toward the metro area as the morning progresses. right now it's mild and muggy. we've got winds blustery, gusting to 20 to 25 miles an hour. it's right around 70 degrees. hour by hour today, by 8:00 we'll have metro area sprinkles. by noon some showers. and then mid to late afternoon is that risk of damaging winds and localized flooding. that risk is extended all the way into this evening. i'll show you the severe risk zone, seven-day outlook in ten minutes. first four traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning. it's going to be a slow

commute facing you as you head out of the house today. let's take a look at i-95 at prince william parkway on the shoulder lane. you're going to find a crash on the right-hand side. from prince william parkway to the beltway, that drive will take you 19 minutes. average travel speed about 40 miles per hour. let's head over to 395, hitting the brakes here as well from the beltway past edsall. all the way to seminary road, you're just a bit sluggish. to get to the 14th street bridge, it's not bad. that drive will take you 17 minutes. on the rails looking a lot better. one minor delay on the brunswick east train 892, you're looking at a six minute delay. if you're taking metro or vre, they're running on or close to schedule. president obama will be in new york today partying it up with music heavyweights jay-z and beyonce. the three are throwing a fund-raiser at jay-z's 4040 club. the president will be in our area on friday, holding a rally

at the fitz center. tickets are first come first served. you can head to news 4's facebook page to find out where to get tickets. paul ryan also in virginia the next two days, trying to swing the commonwealth for republicans. he's scheduled to speak at newport university in newport news tonight. tomorrow he'll speak at a manufacturing company in danvil danville. ryan was in virginia last week. he visited harrisonburg and roanoke on friday. romney is in damage control mode today after controversial comments. the video was taken at a private fund-raiser in may and first obtained by liberal magazine "mother jones" and then nbc news. >> for the past three years all everybody's been told is don't worry, we'll take care of you. how are you going to do it six months before the election to convince people to take care of themselves? >> 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him,

who believe they are victims, who believe the government has the responsibility to care for them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. that's an entitlement, and the government should give it to them. and they will vote for this president no matter what. and the president starts off with 48, 49 -- he starts off with a huge number. these are people who pay no income tax. 47% of americans pay no income tax. our message of low taxes doesn't connect. he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. that's what they sell every four years. my job is not to worry about these two. my job is to take the 5% to 10% of the sector that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending on, in some cases, emotion, whether they like the guy or not. >> after the video was released, romney quickly gathered reporters to clarify his

comments. it's not elegantly stated. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question. i'm sure i could state it more clearly in a more effective way than i did in a setting like that. i want to help all americans have a bright and prosperous future. i'm convinced that obama's approach has not and will not help them do it. 15 before the hour. he was the hit of the republican national convention. now clint eastwood is speaking out about his interesting speech last month. the 82-year-old actor and director talked to ellen degeneres about it. he says he doesn't care about all the attention he's getting for the unique speech and he was just trying to have some fun. >> it's an interesting reaction actually. the democrats who were watching thought i was going senile, and the republicans knew i was.

>> eastwood said, despite speaking at the rnc, he feels like he's more of a libertarian. you can see eastwood today on ellen. democrat tim kaine and republican george allen will square off for a debate as they battle for virginia's senate seat. "meet the press" moderator david gregory and our northern virginia bureau chief julie carey and i will be asking questions. one man faces charges for killing a woman and wounding another in capitol heights. michael jerome stewart was arrested last night. they say he shot and killed 26-year-old brittany mckinley. he went to mckinley's home on heath street and shot them after he got into an argument with mckinley earlier that morning.

the second woman was able to get away and call police. she is expected to be okay. the death toll has risen from a suicide attack in kabul. news 4's angie goff is live at the live desk with breaking developments. >> reporter: good morning. within the last hour, we learned that three more people have died, bringing the death toll up to 12. several others were injured after a suicide bomber blew up a bus in afghanistan. an explosion killed four nationals who worked at the airport. a radical group said they did this in retaliation to a film used in the u.s. they claim the suicide bomber was a 22-year-old woman. if true, she was reportedly the first female suicide car bomber in afghanistan. the bombing is part of the growing outrage in the country over the anti-islam film. yesterday angry protesters clashed in the capital city with police during the riot. this morning's death toll is the highest of foreigners killed in the city since last april when

an afghan air force pilot gunned down nine americans. reporting from the news 4 live desk, angie goff, news 4. 13 before the hour. fbi agents now helping police investigate a vandalism at a mosque in virginia. vandals defaced the islamic center at the shenandoah valley in harrisonburg last friday. they found the building painted with vulgar images and racial slurs. the council on american-islamic relations is calling it a hate crime. police say it's not clear the vandalism was aimed as muslims. they also found graffiti at a christian school in the area. cnbc's hampton pearce says the new iphone is apparently good for business. >> good morning. we had apple passing another milestone. the company stock topped $700 a share in after hours trading last night, which puts its market value at more than $656 billion. it is the world's most valuable

company. apple is being of the bboosted e fever. the company sold more than 2 million of its iphone iphone 5s first day of preorders. apple is quickly exceeding supply while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered on friday. many will be delayed a few weeks until october. all about apple. all about the markets. all about apple gdp. eun, back to you. >> we're finally going to have to see what this is all about when we get our hands on it. thanks so much, hampton. we have a weather alert this morning as severe storms move into the area. and power companies are keeping a close eye on those storms. they're preparing for high winds that could cause trees and power lines to come down very likely. dominion virginia power has crews on stand by right now from as far away as north carolina. they're making sure that they've got people and equipment in place. >> so what are we looking at,

tom, in terms of the severe weather? how bad is it going to be? no problems now. if you're just about to head out the door going to work and school, grab an umbrella. you may be needing it. if you're coming home from work and school, that's where we have the risk of severe weather. right now we're getting moderate to heavy rain where you see the storms in yellow from pennsylvania to west virginia, western maryland, all the way down to the gulf coast. this is slowly advancing off to the north and east. closer to washington right now, around the metro area, we have just a few scattered sprinkles. to our west, getting some moderate showers, the areas in dark green showing up in the highlands of west virginia. here's 81 through the shenandoah valley. you can see the southern part of the valley getting very heavy rain. this is advancing toward the metro area. right now getting light showers. prince william, fauquier, rappahanno rappahannock, culpeper, and madison in fwregreen. that's going to be in the metro area around noontime. but 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. is the

severe zone that extends from new england all the way down to the carolinas. some of the winds today could be over 60 miles an hour from isolated storms. that could bring down tree limbs and power lines, and that risk also is accompanied by the risk of localized flooding as some of those downpours associated with those storms could cause some problems. right now it's near 70 and muggy all across the region with low clouds racing through. winds are now beginning to pick up, gusting to 20 to 25 miles an hour. 8:00 a.m., a few sprinkles around the metro area. showers noontime. and the risk of severe storms. by then up around 80 degrees. some of the storms could produce damaging winds and localized flooding mid to late afternoon. for the afternoon hours, be airwa of the weather. if you hear thunder, get inside. turn on nbc 4. i'll be tweeting any warnings and any information you need, as well as on facebook. and check out nbcwashington.com

interactive radar. through the evening hours, the storms will move east of washington and around the bay by 10:00 or so. and then east of there through the rest of the evening. after that, a delightful morning. low humidity. mild afternoons. could get thunder showers saturday afternoon into saturday evening. otherwise, looks nice for the weekend, first part of next week. we do have the flood threat in washington in the bloomingdale neighborhood. that's been hit several times this summer. that's where megan mcgrath is now. how are they preparing, megan? >> reporter: tom, folks on edge. some folks in this neighborhood, the bloomingdale neighborhood, they've been flooded four times this summer. as you've been saying all morning long, there's the possibility of severe downpours, possibly an inch, maybe two inches in some spots.

they've got some signs out watch for standing water. some of the flooding conditions we've seen in rhode island avenue, just horrible with water gushing down the streets. some people having the water gush into their basements, up out of drains, just a real mess here. they're hopeful it's not going to happen again tonight. they aren't so sure. they've had such a problem as of late. they're not sure why it has started to become such a problem. we are expecting downpours later on this afternoon. certainly some nerves here in the bloomingdale neighborhood. we have seen light rain here around the area, which could be having an impact around traffic this morning. for more on that, we'll go to danella sealock now. danella, how's it looking? >> rain has definitely had impact on travel this morning. we've seen delays. 270 you're slow from clarksburg. you're slow all the way to connecticut avenue. earlier had a crash there. that's gone. still seeing delays. 295, bw parkway as you head from

the beltway southbound to 50, delayed there. over to 50 in maryland, from the beltway, you're absolutely jammed at landover road. take a look at this. i'll give you a travel speed if you're trying to get to 295. that drive, you're at about 25 miles per hour. it is a slow commute this morning. eun, over to you. >> thanks so much, danella. today you could get paid to ride the blue or yellow line. metro will hand out free $5 fare cards as part of their hello yellow campaign. it's an effort to convince blue line riders that a transfer to the yellow line can cut travel time during the rush hour. under the new rush plus schedule, the blue line runs fewer peak hour trains which leads to crowded trains. they'll hand out the fare cards at the pentagon and l'enfant stations today and tomorrow as well. pandemonium is building right now, but it could be a few weeks before we get a look at the newest addition at the washington zoo.

it's likely we won't get a great view of the newborn until mei xiang leaves the den to go find food in a couple of weeks. right now the panda house remaining closed. visitors are flocking to the zoo. gift shop sales are many booing. last time a panda was born, spending went up 4% to nearly $5.25 billion. a french court ordered to turn over photos of the duchess of cambridge within the next 24 hours. the magazine cannot show any more topless photos of princess kate. investigators are opening a separate criminal case against the french magazine that published the topless photos and the photographer who took them. a victory ofor the royal family in court. right now wet pavement from overnight showers. we are seeing that rain getting closer to washington now. those areas in yellow, where

it's raining pretty hard. that's going to be advancing toward the metro area by noontime. this whole yellow zone under a threat of damaging winds 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. we're right in the middle of that. danella, how's traffic? >> just sluggish in our area. checking outer loop speeds in montgomery county, 23 miles an hour. 24 minutes to get from i-95 to i-270. >> thank you, danella. that is "news 4 today." thanks for starting your day with us.